Page 115 of His Dark Vendetta

“This can’t be real,” I mumbled. “This can’t…” I shook my head.

He held up his cut and bloody forearms. “It’s real.” He pulled a shard of glass from one of the longer gashes. Blood flowed in its wake but stopped almost immediately, Luca’s skin closing around the wound.

I stared in shock, unable to move. That couldn’t have happened. Maybe it was blood loss. Had I been cut somewhere? Or a gas leak. Maybe one of the bullets hit a pipe. But even as my mind raced through every possible excuse, the truth stared me in the face with red eyes and pointed fangs. The pieces had been there all along, scratching at the back of my mind for months, nagging me to fit them together and acknowledge their connection.

But knowing and seeing were two different things, and I’d had enough surprises for one day. My body heaved—once, twice—and I vomited on the vinyl floor and broken glass.

The rush of blood from emptying my guts made me lightheaded. I sat up slowly and dabbed the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand. “Aren’t you lucky,” I said, the surreal situation and my dizziness making me numb. “Other women faint or scream when they go into shock. Yours throws up.”

Vinnie Valenzano’s giant body appeared where the glass door used to be, surrounded by shattered remnants clinging to an empty frame. He stepped through, and the sign that signaled “Closed” crunched under the weight of his fancy leather shoe.

He scanned the mess, and his gaze landed on Luca, slumped against the wall, his red eyes hooded and tips of his fangs visible between parted lips. Vinnie’s unhappy expression drifted to me, then Gio. “Couldn’t get a read on the plates—unmarked. They got Vito and Gina.”

Luca let out a primal scream. His eyes flared, and his fangs elongated, sharp and deadly. “Who’s they? They’re fucking dead!”

“Save it. Don’t know.” His gaze slid to me, then back to Luca. “But I have a good fucking idea.”

My stomach clenched and seized. I dry-heaved, my body trying to expel the acid.

“Marco’s headed to Vesuvio,” Vinnie said to Gio, his voice clipped and efficient. “I’ll get word to the capi. We’re looking for a silver Hyundai. Stay here and deal with the cops.”

I shut my eyes and slowed my breath.

My ears rang from the gunfire, but loud Italian punctured my muffled hearing and made me jump. The man in the apron who’d been clearing dishes when I first arrived gestured at the shattered glass, broken chairs, and bullet holes. Vinnie raised his hands in a placating gesture. When the man didn’t calm down, Vinnie barked a few words in Italian and pointed toward the back. The man wrung his apron, spun on his heel, and marched away.

Vinnie ran a hand down his face and lifted his chin toward Luca. “I gotta get him out of here.”

“Took three in the back,” Gio said. “One’s still in there. Dr. Levine’s on his way to Vesuvio.”

“Get this blood cleaned up before the cops get here,” he said to Gio.

Gio nodded and headed for the back.

“You got enough juice to walk?” Vinnie hunched over Luca and held out a hand.

“Yeah.”

He put his other hand under Luca’s armpit.

“Fuck! Not there!” Luca snapped. “That’s where the bullet is.”

“Let me help,” I said and scrambled to my feet. Blood rushed to my head, and my knees buckled. I caught myself, took a deep breath, and pressed on.

My eyebrows knit together trying to figure out how my scrawny ass was going to help a man who weighed twice what I did to his feet. I squatted, grabbed Luca’s hand, and put one arm around his shoulders.

Vinnie and I pulled.

Luca winced. “Argh!”

“Sorry!” I said, but at least Vinnie and I had Luca on his feet.

He sagged into me, but Vinnie held him upright with an arm around his waist. “Come on, Luca. Man up. You’ve been through worse.”

Luca glared at Vinnie but straightened.

“Out the back,” Vinnie said. “We can take the alleys, but we gotta move.”

“Yeah,” Luca said with a grunt, his breath heavy and strained.

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